Signs Your Senior Dog Has Arthritis (and How to Keep Them Comfortable)

If your older dog takes a moment to unfold from her bed, hesitates at the bottom of the stairs, or lags behind on the walk she used to lead, that is worth paying attention to. The signs of arthritis in dogs are often written off as normal aging, but slowing down is usually pain, and pain can be treated. Osteoarthritis is the most common joint disease in dogs, and it is progressive: the earlier you notice it, the more comfortable years you can give your dog.

This guide is for owners of middle-aged and senior dogs who suspect something has changed. It covers the signs to look for at home, what your vet can do, and which treatments genuinely help.

What are the early signs of arthritis in dogs?

Arthritis pain builds slowly, so the first clues are subtle. Look for patterns rather than single bad days.

• Stiffness after sleeping or lying down that eases after a few minutes of walking
• Slower to get up, or needing a run-up or a second attempt to stand
• Reluctance to use stairs, jump into the car, or get onto the sofa or bed
• Lagging behind on walks, wanting to turn back sooner, or lying down mid-walk
• A limp that comes and goes, often worse after a long walk or a burst of running
• Bunny-hopping with both hind legs together, or swapping which leg takes weight
• Sitting or lying in odd, lopsided positions
• Difficulty on smooth floors, with slipping or splayed legs
• Muscle loss over the hips or shoulders, so the hind end looks narrower
• Licking, chewing or brown saliva staining over a knee, elbow or hip

Behaviour changes owners often miss

Chronic pain changes personality as much as movement. The WSAVA notes that the behavioural signs of long-term pain develop gradually and are often only picked up by the person who knows the dog best, which means your gut feeling that "she's just not herself" carries real weight.

• Less interest in play, toys or greeting people at the door
• Grumpiness when touched, brushed, lifted or when another dog barges into her
• New sleeping spots, often on the floor instead of a raised bed, or restlessness at night
• Reluctance to be picked up, or flinching when a particular area is handled
• Toileting accidents indoors because getting up and outside is too hard
• Panting or pacing in the evening with no obvious cause

Cold, damp weather and hard or slippery surfaces typically make all of this worse. Many owners notice the first winter is the winter it becomes obvious.

Why do dogs hide joint pain so well?

Dogs rarely cry out with arthritis. Instead they quietly do less: shorter sniffing routes, fewer stairs, no more leaping onto the bed. Because those changes happen over months, they look like a personality shift rather than a symptom. Dogs also spread their weight onto the healthier legs, which masks a limp when several joints are affected, as often happens with both hips or both elbows.

The practical takeaway: don't wait for obvious lameness. If your dog has stopped doing two or three things she used to do, that is enough reason for a check-up.

Which dogs are most at risk?

Age matters, but so does history. Osteoarthritis usually follows something that was already going on in the joint.

• Hip or elbow dysplasia, or a previously torn cruciate ligament in the knee
• Kneecap (patella) problems, common in small breeds
• Any old joint injury, fracture or joint surgery
• Being overweight, which loads joints mechanically and adds low-grade inflammation from fat tissue
• Large and giant breeds, though small dogs and cats get arthritis too
• Very high-impact lifestyles, and equally, long periods of being sedentary

The MSD Veterinary Manual describes fat tissue as an active endocrine organ that releases inflammatory and pain-promoting mediators, which is one reason overweight dogs hurt more than their x-rays alone would predict.

How does a vet diagnose arthritis?

A hands-on orthopaedic exam is the core of it. Your vet will watch your dog walk and trot, feel each joint for thickening, swelling, reduced range of motion and pain, and compare left with right. X-rays help confirm the diagnosis and, importantly, rule out other causes of a painful limb such as bone tumours or immune-mediated joint disease, which need completely different treatment.

X-ray changes and how much a dog actually suffers don't always match. The international COAST consensus guidelines for canine osteoarthritis make the point that treatment should be guided by clinical signs rather than radiographs, and the group's staging system combines risk factors, what you observe at home, and the physical exam.

Bring your observations. A short phone video of your dog getting up from rest and walking away is often more informative than anything that happens in a nervous five minutes at the clinic. Your vet may also use a validated owner questionnaire such as the Canine Brief Pain Inventory or the Liverpool Osteoarthritis in Dogs score, both recommended by the WSAVA, to put a number on how your dog is doing and track whether treatment is working.

If your dog is likely to need long-term medication, expect blood and urine tests first to check kidney and liver function, then repeated periodically.

How can I keep my arthritic dog comfortable at home?

Home care is not the soft option. Weight, exercise and environment do a large share of the work, and they make medication more effective at lower doses.

Get the weight off

Keeping your dog lean is the most powerful single thing you can do. Aim for a body condition score of 4 to 5 out of 9: you should feel the ribs easily under a thin layer of fat, see a waist from above and a tucked-up belly from the side. Ask your vet for a target weight and a measured daily calorie allowance, weigh food rather than scooping it, and take treats out of the daily total. Regular weigh-ins at the clinic keep it honest, and even a modest loss often visibly improves how a dog moves.

Make the house work with her joints

• Put non-slip runners, yoga mats or rubber-backed rugs along her usual routes and around food bowls
• Use a ramp for the car and, if she is allowed up, for the sofa or bed
• Block off stairs when you can't supervise, and support her with a sling or harness with a handle if she wobbles
• Provide a thick orthopaedic or memory foam bed in a warm, draught-free spot, away from cold tiles
• Raise food and water bowls a little so she isn't bending into a painful crouch
• Keep nails short and trim the fur between the pads; long nails and hairy paws destroy grip

Rethink exercise rather than stopping it

Rest does not help arthritic joints. Muscle is what stabilises them, and muscle disappears fast in a dog who has stopped moving. What helps is little and often on soft, even ground: several short lead walks a day instead of one long one, at her pace, with plenty of sniffing. A five-minute gentle warm-up before anything more energetic is worth the time.

What to cut back: repetitive ball throwing, frisbee, skidding turns on hard surfaces, jumping in and out of cars, and long weekend hikes after a quiet week. Swimming and other low-impact work suit many dogs well.

Flare-ups happen. If your dog is markedly stiffer or lamer, cut the walks back to short toilet trips for a couple of days, keep her warm, and call your vet if she isn't back to her baseline within two or three days.

Which treatments actually help?

Arthritis can't be cured, so the aim is to control pain, keep muscle and mobility, and protect quality of life. Veterinary guidelines all favour combining several approaches instead of relying on one.

• Prescription pain relief: Veterinary NSAIDs (such as carprofen, meloxicam, robenacoxib or firocoxib) remain the mainstay for osteoarthritis pain. Both the AAHA and WSAVA guidelines, and the COAST group, also recognise monthly anti-nerve growth factor antibody injections for dogs as an appropriate first-line option, and a head-to-head trial found bedinvetmab and meloxicam comparably effective. Which suits your dog depends on her other health conditions, so this is a conversation with your vet, including what side effects to watch for.
• Additional pain medicines: For dogs whose pain isn't controlled by one drug, vets may add medicines such as gabapentin or amantadine, or a veterinary paracetamol formulation. These are used on veterinary prescription only.
• Physiotherapy and rehabilitation: A qualified canine physiotherapist can build a targeted exercise programme, teach you home exercises, and offer hydrotherapy or an underwater treadmill. Published reviews put environmental changes and a sensible exercise plan at the foundation, with hands-on therapy layered on top. Many dogs need less medication once they are fitter.
• Omega-3 fatty acids: Marine-source omega-3s (EPA and DHA from fish oil, not flaxseed) are the best supported nutritional option. Randomised studies of therapeutic joint diets with high omega-3 levels showed better weight-bearing and function, and reduced NSAID requirements. Doses used clinically are higher than typical supermarket capsules provide, so ask your vet what to give.
• Glucosamine and chondroitin: Popular, but the evidence in dogs is weak. Controlled studies have generally failed to show a benefit, so put your money and effort into weight, exercise and omega-3s first.
• Acupuncture, laser and shockwave therapy: Sometimes helpful as add-ons for individual dogs, but the evidence is limited and mixed. Reasonable to try alongside proven measures, not instead of them.
• Surgery and joint injections: For specific problems, such as a torn cruciate ligament or a severely affected single joint, surgical options or intra-articular injections may change the picture. Your vet can advise whether a referral makes sense.

What should I never give my dog for joint pain?

Do not reach into your own medicine cabinet. Human painkillers are a common cause of poisoning in dogs.

• Ibuprofen and naproxen: Highly toxic to dogs, causing stomach ulcers, bleeding and kidney failure. A single tablet can seriously harm even a large dog.
• Paracetamol (acetaminophen): There are veterinary formulations, but human tablets are easy to overdose and some contain other ingredients that are dangerous to dogs. Only give it if your vet has prescribed it, at the exact dose stated.
• Aspirin: Can cause gastric ulcers and is toxic in overdose. Not for owners to dose independently.
• Leftover medicines from another pet, or two NSAIDs together: Combining anti-inflammatories, or overlapping them with steroids, sharply raises the risk of stomach and kidney damage.

If your dog has already swallowed any of these, call your vet or an emergency clinic straight away and say what and how much. Don't wait for symptoms.

When to call the vet

Book a routine appointment if you have noticed stiffness, reduced stamina, reluctance on stairs, or a limp that has lasted more than a few days. Earlier is better: treatment works best before muscle has wasted and habits have changed.

Seek same-day or emergency veterinary care if your dog:

• Suddenly cannot bear weight on a leg, or the leg is hanging or clearly deformed
• Cannot stand or get up at all, or is dragging her hind legs or scuffing her toes
• Has a hot, swollen, very painful joint, especially with a fever or being off her food
• Is crying out, panting hard, trembling or unable to settle
• Becomes wobbly, weak in several limbs, or loses bladder or bowel control
• Shows possible medication side effects: vomiting, diarrhoea, black or tarry stools, loss of appetite, unusual thirst, yellow gums or new lethargy. Stop the medicine and phone your vet.

Keeping track over time

Arthritis needs review, not a single prescription. Plan a recheck within a few weeks of starting any new treatment, then every three to six months, with weight checks and blood tests as your vet advises. In between, keep a simple diary: is she getting up more easily, walking further, greeting you again, sleeping through the night? Note the date whenever something improves or slips. Short videos every few weeks give you an honest comparison, since day-to-day memory is unreliable.

Most dogs with arthritis have good years ahead if the pain is properly managed. Take the small signs seriously, keep her lean and moving, and treat your vet as a long-term partner in the plan rather than a last resort.